07.09.07
Keep Blog Articles Short and To the Point
One objective of the blog publisher is to keep the attention of their audience. Given that we’re all stretched for time and increasingly looking for a quick answer to a specific question, brevity in blog articles is key. Of course you may argue that certain technical discussions require longer articles, and I would agree that there are exceptions. However, for the vast majority of articles, short and sweet is the way to go!
What’s the appropriate length?
The average reading pace is between 250 – 300 words per minute and one minute sounds like just about the right length of time to keep the attention of a typical reader on the Internet. Sure, some professional writers can spit out 1000 words in a few minutes, but who has time to read that! Just look through your inbox at work - how annoying are all those long messages?
How do I get my message across?
It shouldn’t take several hundred words to get you ideas across if you keep a few rules in mind. First, have a rather narrow topic and don’t stray from the topic as you write. This is easier said than done, but with practice you’ll learn how to focus on one point and support your argument with interesting fact and tidbits for the reader. Second, break the content down into bite sized pieces so that it’s easy to consume and even scan with a glance. In reality, no one will read your articles if they can’t get a quick read on overall message.
Some tricks to make your content digestible
- Use bold headings for titles
- Use bullet points to illustrate lists of information
- Underline, italicize, or color keywords to draw attention and highlight important concepts
Well, gotta run - my 298 words are up!
Brian J. said,
July 10, 2007 at 12:09 am
I think you can make articles longer than 300 words. However, to do so, your first 100 words, in the first 20 seconds of reading time, need to have a subject that capture’s the reader’s interest enough for him to continue. How feasible that is depends on the general subject of your blog.
say said,
July 10, 2007 at 4:18 am
I do agree that short articles catch the eye of a reader ,a blogger should try to express informative and interesting stuff with few words,seems to be a tough task but its essential to make people read your articles.
aarti said,
July 10, 2007 at 6:28 am
people read other people’s blog to use them in their life. blogs give us the viewpoint of another person about a certain topic or product. Their lenght is very crucial part as one does not want to read stories. He just wants to have a blogger’s perspective. A lenghty blog is simply intolerable until and unless it is the demand of the topic.
Peter Profesta said,
July 10, 2007 at 6:37 am
I like using numbered lists when I’m blogging. I love writing questions and answers when I’m blogging just as you did above though.
Anonymous said,
July 10, 2007 at 7:03 am
The Key to success in blogging is attracting traffic or in other words the productivity.To achieve the intended results one has to create an acceptable blog.One method is to make use of formating features and make it short and sweet.
cara press said,
July 10, 2007 at 10:17 am
I know a long article could not keep my attention as I would scan through the blogging. I know I would miss important items and not be able to do the author justice.
Jenny said,
July 10, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I think it’s absolutely essential to use bold headings, bullet points, and somehow draw attention to keywords (underline, italicise or color) when blogging. For us to keep up the productivity that is always expected of us we need to be able to scan the blog quickly for th einformation we need and get off. We don’t usually have the leisure to sit and read a whole article for the answer.
arif said,
July 10, 2007 at 3:27 pm
The blogging articles must be brief, short, concise and to the point. It must be complete informative within the short in length.
chi said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I think while blogging one needs to keep in mind the time constraint of other people as well, because everybody looks for information on internet and of course through blogs, but this process should not hamper the productivity levels……thus it is important for blogs to be precise …..
Merch said,
July 12, 2007 at 2:07 am
Well, I agree that visual cues and focus of topic both make reading any blog easier, especially when a user is looking for technical information. For adherents of Getting Things Done, productivity is bound to suffer if someone is made to slog through unwieldy prose.